BORDERS Synonyms: 79 Similar and Opposite Words

borders 1 of 2

noun

plural of border

as in edges

the line or relatively narrow space that marks the outer limit of something a rug with a fancily embroidered border

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in frontiers

a region along the dividing line between two countries people who live on an international border get used to carrying a passport

Synonyms & Similar Words

borders

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of border

as in bounds

to serve as a border for that velvet bordered the sleeves on this shirt, until it fell off

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of borders

Noun

The Cape Newenham facility is part of a network of remote radar sites that track aircraft in Alaska's airspace and along its borders. — Charles Ventura, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026 When a major export corridor becomes less dependable, buyers compete for alternatives, freight and insurance costs rise, and risk premiums can travel across borders. — Phil Kafarakis, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026 The development marks yet another incident in which Russia's war in Ukraine has potentially spilled beyond the country's borders, underscoring risk to critical infrastructure. — Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 21 Aug. 2026 The same underground banking networks built to move private Chinese wealth became useful to criminal groups that also needed to transfer money across borders and conceal its origins. — Alvin Camba, Foreign Affairs, 21 Aug. 2026 The gang manages to cross at least three borders without any forms of identification. — Ct Jones, Rolling Stone, 21 Aug. 2026 This tall plant works well at the back of borders or massed in woodland, meadow, and coastal gardens. — Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 20 Aug. 2026 What remains of the trade are 25,000 American horses, gathered up by kill buyers and hauled to slaughter plants across our northern and southern borders. — Wayne Pacelle, New York Daily News, 13 Aug. 2026 Iran has positioned itself as the most overtly anti-Western state in the region, and the coming together of three prominent Muslim-majority countries aligned with the West, two of which have land borders with Iran, signals its isolation. — Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 13 Aug. 2026

Verb

The Mexican navy searched a vast area of the Pacific Ocean by sea and air, eventually finding the two men floating in a large fishing cooler about 150 miles off the coast of Chiapas, a southern state in Mexico that borders Guatemala. — Diego Mendoza, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026 The wide range of the search allowed rescuers to locate the men floating in the Pacific Ocean about 150 miles off the coast of Chiapas, a southern Mexican state that borders Guatemala. — Kerry Breen, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026 Power at the school went out immediately when the storm hit, Norrell said, and electrical wires tangled in trees were visible along Kedzie Avenue, which borders the school property to the west. — Evy Lewis, Chicago Tribune, 19 Aug. 2026 Outside of talks with the United States, Iran has engaged in negotiations with Oman about reopening the Strait of Hormuz, which borders the two countries and both Iran and the United States have asserted control. — Joey Garrison, USA Today, 18 Aug. 2026 Liechtenstein, a wealthy nation of 40,000 people that borders Switzerland and Austria, has an unusually powerful monarchy by European standards. — ABC News, 15 Aug. 2026 The park borders Canada and the spine of the Rocky Mountains. — Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 14 Aug. 2026 The 4,300-square-foot home is located in the exclusive Hidden Hills neighborhood and borders Kim Kardashian’s compound. — Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 12 Aug. 2026 Earlier this year, news outlets reported that a truck carrying paraquat spilled around 60 gallons of the herbicide in Dorris in Siskiyou County, which borders Oregon. — Lizzie Kane, Sacbee.com, 11 Aug. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for borders

Noun

Using rudimentary 3-D animation tools, the film looks janky, with sharp edges and bad editing.

— Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 24 Aug. 2026
Bake cookies, rotating baking sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through, until golden and cracked (edges will be firm but centers should still be soft), 16–18 minutes.

— Ellary Collins, Bon Appetit Magazine, 24 Aug. 2026

Definition of edges

Noun

Moreover, the partnership serves as a historic moment, as the two institutions are exploring new sensory frontiers together for the first time.

— Robb Report Studio, Robb Report, 15 Aug. 2026
District 8 is also home to some of the top growth frontiers as the suburbs give way to farmland that’s a source of new land for developers.

— Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of frontiers

Verb

With the sprightly energy of a schoolboy, Jean-Paul Doron bounds into an empty creek, his red suede shoes scraping pale rocks.

— Dominique Soguel, Christian Science Monitor, 14 Aug. 2026
Over a century later, the Himalayan blackberry has spread far beyond the modest backyard bounds its importers envisioned, opting instead to take over indiscriminately and displace the native trailing blackberry (Rubus ursinus) in the process.

— The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 25 June 2026

Definition of bounds

Noun

Libra September 23 – October 22 Set healthy boundaries in relationships today.

— Tarot.com, Chicago Tribune, 21 Aug. 2026
CRAs are redevelopment districts funded by property taxes collected within their boundaries to pay for real estate projects, road repair, events and other local benefits.

— Douglas Hanks, Miami Herald, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of boundaries

Verb

Uncertainty, however, surrounds the future of striker Jean-Philippe Mateta.

— Matt Woosnam, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2026
In a separate attack, local authorities said two people were killed Saturday afternoon in a Russian ballistic missile strike on the Kyiv region, which surrounds the capital.

— Volodymyr Yurchuk, Chicago Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026

Definition of surrounds

Noun

But a recent study found that people with larger waist circumferences who ate one avocado daily for six months did not see improvements in blood sugar, insulin levels, or insulin resistance.

— Abby Norman, Verywell Health, 30 June 2026
Its main beams are 27 inches long, with over 5-inch base circumferences.

— Bob McNally, Outdoor Life, 30 Oct. 2025